Car retarder



June 24, 1930. Y 1,767,440

CAR RETARDER Filed Oct. 8, 1928 ATTORNEY INVVENTOR 3 provide a car retarding device of much Patented June 24, 1930 i ourrso STATES EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, CORPORATION OE PENNSYLVAN Louis E. ENDSLEY, or. PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, iiss enonmo 130m PITT MINE can Em nent My invention relates to track. brakes or car retarders, such as those, employed for checking orretarding the movement of railwaycars, mine cars and the like, through 5 friction imposed against the sides of car wheels, thus avoiding the necessity of employing the hand brakes of the cars forretarding movement thereof.

One of the objects of my invention is to simpler form than those of .various types heretofore employed.

Another object of my invention is to provide a car retarder or'track brake of such form that there is a minimum loss through friction of the working parts in transmitting the power therethrough to operate the braking devices.

Another object of my invention is to provide-a 'device of the character referred to, wherein there is little danger-of the parts becoming disarranged or rendered ineflec tive through foreign matter or obstri'ictions coming into contact therewith.

provide a device wherein the braking forces which are applied to car wheels at aplurality of points are effectivelyequalized.

Still another object of my inventionis to a small amount of space compared'to various structures heretofore employed.

is shown in the accompanying drawing,

-, wherein Figure l is a plan view of the structure,with a portion of the operating mechanism broken away; Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of thestructure, and Fig. 3fis a sectional view takenon the line III- 11T of Fig. 1. V p 7 The apparatus is shown as employed in connection with track rails 4 and 5 along.

which. cars 6 are to be moved/ Suitably mounted on the cross ties or in some other convenient manner, I provide Z bars 7 which serve to support gripping bars or shoes 8.

in position to be moved against the'sides of the car wheels, to check the movement of the car. These shoes are shown as having and of the links towhich it is A further object of my. invention is to provide a car retarding device that occupies ally bejisufiicient to check the movement "of lighter cars,such as mine cars. g The hand lever 9 is securedto ashaft 10 that" isfmou-nted in suitable bearings. and which carries at its inner end. acrank 11. The crank ll is connected to oneendof a link'12 whose other endhas connection with V acrank 13 ,thatis secured to a rock shaft 14.

The shaft 14: carries acrank-like lifting arm 15; which: ,extendsfthrough an'jopening in,

an' equalizing lever 16.: The outer end of the arm 'li5 is curved, so that the lever .16

can slide thereon slightly, thuspermitting the lever to move in approximately a true vertical path and avoiding bindingthercof connected as hereinafter described Z j,

[The leverflfi supports apair'offlinksfl each having its lower ei'idfconnec'ted 'toja leverl8 hof bell crank form; The upper. extremity of this lever 18 has pivotal connectionwith the inner gripping bar. 8, While its other outer extremityis pivotally con nected toa pullLrod or bar 19' whose outer endfis bentv upwardly? and has slidable err- One form which my invention may take clearance ,being -providedin'each of the brackets23to permit slight vertical movementsofthe pull rod A bracket 24: is provided forguidingthejlower outer end of each of the levers 18.

. Atfthe opposite end of thestructure, I provide 1 a similar arrangement of mechanism, for operating'the gripping bars or shoes, such mechanism being substantially a duplicate of thatjust described, so far as the gripping bars sponds to the rock shaft 1 1.

The gripping bars 8 are bent laterally at each end, as. shown more clearly'in Fig. 1,

to;v provide a flared opening into which the. car wheels may roll without danger of becoming caught on the ends of such bars.- Stop plates 27 are riveted to the ends of bars 8, and these plates engage the ends of' the 2 bars 7 to prevent shifting of the bars 8 longitudinally.

When it is desired to check the movement of a car which is advancing along the track rails 4 and 5, the hand lever 9' ismoved to operative position such distance as may be required in order to brin the gripping bars 6 into engagement with t e sides ofthe car wheels'with the required degree of force, depending upon the wei'gh-t of the car and the extent to which the speed thereof is to be reduced. Such movement of the hand lever 9 results in upward movement of the outer en deof the lifting cranks15, so that the levers 16 are elevated and the levers 18; rocked through lifting of their inner ends. This rocking movement of the. levers 18 results in the upper ends thereof being forced toward the car wheels and their lower outer ends drawn inwardly to. impart inward movement to the pull rods 19. The gripping bars this movement and they are, connected to links 18 which are pivoted at each end, and

as the members 18 and 19 are pivotally connected, there is equalization of forces applied against the sides not only of each car wheel, but. also with respect to each pair of car wheels- The springs. 21' provide the necessary yielding effect to. prevent such binding of the car wheels between the shoes 8 as might. result from unevenness in the faces of the wheels. I

By the elimination of a number of fixed pivotal points heretofore deemed necessary, 1 Secure better equalization of braking forces and reduce frictional losses which would otherwise occur in the transmission of power to thev shoes.

Again, it will be seen that although the pull rods 19- extend beneath the rails, they do so only in horizontal directions, and have substantially only horizontal movement,;so that but a small amount of clearance. is required beneath the rails, thus making for quick and convenient installation andrendering' themoving parts; less subject to ob;- struction against movements thereof;

1 claim as my invention pair of shoes, a lever having pivotal engage .ment with one of saidshoes, a..p-ul1l.ro;d;d1s-

posed in a horizontal plane andhavinggan upturned end in engagement with the other shoe and pivotally connected to the said lever, and means tor-rocking the lever about the first-named pivotal point. v

3.. Car retarding apparatus comprising two pairs of shoes, a pair of levers each having pivotal engagement with one of said shoes, a pair of pull rods eachhaving engagement with the other shoe of each pair and each pivotally connected to one of said le 'ers, an equalizing lever connected at each end to one of said levers, and means for actuating said equalizing lever to eilect movement of the first-named levers.

4. Car retarding apparatus comprising" two shoes, a pair of horizontally disposed rods each having a transversely bent end for engaging one of saidshoes, an equalizing lever connected each end tonne of said rod-s,and'meansfor actuating said equahz lnglever for elfecting longitudinal movement of the rods. V

5. Car retardingapparatus comprising two shoes, a pair of pull rods each engagement with one of said" shoes and V mounted for movement bodily anequaliz-ing link, a pivotal connection between each end of said link and one of saidrods, and means for actuating said link to effect movement of the rods.

6. Car retarding apparatus comprising two shoes, two pull rod-s each extending ina horizontal direction but having one end turned laterally for engagement with one of saiclshoes, an'equa-lizin-g lever, means for pivotallysupporting the lever intermediate its ends and mo-vable in a direction trans versely of the pivotal connection, and link connections between each end'of said lever and one of the rods arranged to cause movement of the rods in directions longitudinally thereo-ffi upon lateral movement of the lever.

7. Car retarding apparatus comprising two shoes, two pull rods each extendingin a horizontal direction but having one end turned laterally for engagement with one of said shoes, an equalizing lever, link connections between each end of'said' lever and one of the rods arranged to cause movement of the rods in directions longitudinally thereof upon lateral movement of the lever, a crank having engagement with saidlever to shift the same ina lateral d'irecti0n,a rock shaft for actuating said crank, and means for oscillating said rock shaft.

8. Car retarding apparatus comprising two pairs of shoes, two levers each having pivotal engagement with one shoe of each pair, two pull rods each having engagement With the other shoe of said pair and pivotally connected to one of said levers, a lifting link connected to each of the levers, an equalizing lever connected at its ends to the said lifting links, and means for moving said lever in a direction transversely thereof.

9. Car retarding apparatus comprising shoes, links connected to said shoes and disposed in a common plane, an equalizing lever having each of its ends connected to one of said links, and a lifting arm mounted for rocking movement in a direction transversely of the axis of the lever but connected to said lever for operating the same in a direction parallel to the plane of the links and the lever, the said lever and arm having relative movement in a direction axially of the arm. 4

In testimony whereof I, the said LOUIS E. ENDSLEY have hereunto set my hand.

LOUIS E. ENDSLEY. 

